Letter-stamping machine.



J. W. FENNEL.

LETTER STAMPING MACHINE.

uruoa'nou rum) mm: 24, 1911.

1,013,383, Patented Jan 2,1912.

3 BHEBTSSHEET 1 /7 1/ I 4/ ll/ZgZ/l amucmtoc Witnesses MFE/Yfi e J. W. FBNNBL.

LETTER STAMPING MACHINE.

APPLIGATIOK FILED JULY 24,1911.

1 013 383 Patented Jan. 2,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

annual J. W. FENNEL.

LETTER STAMPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1911v Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

3 SHBBTBSHBBT 3.

III I 11 \uJnk &

WWI moses a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of 'State of new and useful Improvements in Letter- I e 1 JACOB w. p] NEWBUBGH,

j murmurs momma Specification 0! Letters latent. Application fled m :4, 191:. was. 040,110.

' Patented Jan. z,1912.

To whom it may concern! Be itknown that I, JACOB W. Fnmmn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newburgli in the county of Orange and blew York, have'invented certam Stamping Machines; and I do ,declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact'description of the invention, such as .will-enable Ethers skilled in the art to which it ap- 'pertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to check-contrblled machines, and more especially to those of that type wherein the presence of the roper coin is necessary to permit the han -actuated plunger to do the work; and in the present specification I have illustrated my n11 roved mechanism as applied to the cancelmg of a postage stamp on an envelo and applying to the latter a post-marina thou it Wlll be understood that the same can e applied in a variety of other ways and for a number of other purposes.

The following specification and claims set forth the preferred construction of my invention, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of this device applied to the'top of a letter box; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section showing the coin onits way in through the chute; Fig. 3 isa similar section showing the coin within the track and bein depressed by the plunger, the inkin ro er in this case having passed across e face of the dial; Fig. 4 is Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are pens tive details respectively of the die, the ink roller, and the track referred to hereinafter; Fig, 9 is a horizontal section through the coin register.

Inthe present em odiment of my invention I have illustratedthe same as contained within a rectangular casin 1 mounted upon the top of a letter box 2 aving the usual inlet opening 3, although it mlght be attached to awall or other sup art or mounted upon the side of the letter 1:. The casing 1 has an upright slot 4 and in the wall at right angles to it a glass anel 5 so that the envelo 6 can be inse' into the slot and seen u h the panel and the stamp 7 carried by a p '8 can be observed as itmarks the envelop with whatever legend the -die on' the stamp may contain so that, after having been properly marked with the Government receipt, the user can drop the envelop into the slot 3 within the letter box 2, and later it will be collected and sent.

I have spoken above of marking the envelop, and obviously the die on the stam 3 can contain both a stamp-canceler an a post markmg device so that each person who malls a etter under the present system -will both cancel its stamp and post mark the envelop under I11 improved system; but it is easily conceiva Is that the die on the stamp may be of such nature as to avoid the necessity for the use of any postage stamp, because as will be seen below this die cannot be im ressed on the envelop until the user has pai the proper'coin and therefore there is no need for printing, selling, sticking, and canceling postagestamps 1f the system contemplated by this invention be adopted. Moreover, by making said die of such character that it will contam a postmark with a date ca able of being set day by day, the letters when collected from the letter box are in proper condition to be sorted and startedtoward their destination,

without the necessity for having any clerks 1 cancel the stamps or apply the post-marks.

The, numeral 10 designates the handle pivoted at 11 so that it will project to the exterior of, the casing and within reach of the. users hand, 12 is a link connecting this lever with -a power lever 13 preferably disosed within the casing andnormally raised y a spring 14, and 15 is a linkconnectin the power lever with the plunger 16 whic by preference reciprocates vertically in guides 17 within the casing and entirely out of reach and perhaps out of sight of the user.

18 designates the coin chute which delivers a coin of the proper size over a preferably vertical track 19, and 20 designates the mam lever pivoted at 21 at its upper end and pressed at its .lower end toward said track by an expansive spring 22 so that the elements 19 and 20 whlch may be said to form the rails of the track normally conver e and present a V-shaped space into which the coin is delivered bv the chute 18. Suitable safe-guards (not shown) will be placed at the mouth or inlet end of the chute to prevent/the. insertion of other coins than those of the proper denomination, and a coin receptacle will be placed below the V-shaped space, so that coins forced through it by means of the plunger will accumulate therein, but these features do not form parts of the present invention and are not illustrated. The drawings do show in outline however, acoin register, which I preferably employ and which may be briefly described as consisting of dials 25 and 26 refer-ably having indicating figures on their faces, and one of them having a ratchet 27 fast on its shaft engaged by a pawl '28, and link mechanism 29 connecting this pawl with the main lever 20 so that every impulse of the latter'as described below will move the ratchet wheel one step forward and will register the reception of another coin. Hence I provide a check upon the person who comes later to collect the coins out of the safe or receptacle which this device contains, and as the register cannot be actuated unless a-eoin is actually pressed by the main lever the coin register will keep accurate record of the coins that pass in.

. With the construction thus far described, the user inserts a coin into the chute 18 and it passes down the same and lodges in the V-shaped space between the main lever 20 and the fixed track 19, where it comes to rest directly beneath the lower end of the plum er 16 which latter stands normally raise by the force of the spring 14. Following instructions the user then manipulates the main handle 10, and through the power lever 13 and link 15 the plunger is causedto descend; and in its downward movement it presses' the coin into the V- shaped space referred to and therefore swings the main lever 20 on its pivot 21 against the force of its spring 22'therebypushing the coin downward mto the coinreceptacle and retracting pawl 28 which latter advances the pro er dial in the coin register one step. Whiiia it is obvious that this check controlling mechanism may .be utilized in connection with other dev ces than the letter markerdescribed herein, I have preferred to show it in this connection and will now describe the details thereof.

The numeral 30 designates an ink .pad,

over which moves a roller 31 mounted on a pivoted arm 32 connected by a. link 33 with lever 20; and in similar manner the numeral 7 designates the stem mounted on a stem or arm 8 and connecte by a link mechanism 34 with the main lever 20. The point of connection between the two links 33 and 34 on the one hand and said lever 20 on the other hand are, however, so disposed that'when said-lever moves its first impulse throws the roller across thedie on the face of the stamp and its further movement projects the stamp against the envelop so as to mark the latter with the wet ink. Anysuitthe main able means may beadopted for carrying outthis principle, that illustrated being merely for the purpose of showing that it can be done in this wa But here again the essential feature is t iat the ink roller and stamp will not ,move until the main lever moves, and no matter how much a child might play with the handle 10 without utting a coin in the chute, he could do nothing further than reciprocate the plunger 16 within its uides 17, and as no coin stood in the \l-siaped space between the main lever 20 and the .[ixcd track 19 the former would not move on its ivot 21. As with the case of the coin register, the rinting mechanism which includes the iniiing device and the stamp remains idle until the main lever moves.

Continuing the operation of the machine, dcscrl above, the coin is forced down by the desaentof the plunger 16, the main lever in its swinging movement first inks the die on the stam and then presses the stamp against the etter, and as soon as the coin has passed the lower end of the main lever and dropped into the coin-receptacle, the spring 22 restores all parts to their normal position and sets them read for renewed operation when another coin is inserted.

Thus it will be seen that if my invention were adopted by the Government, the necessity for printing, selling, sticking, and can celin postage stamps would be entirely avoi ed;'and as these machines would cost no more than the stamp-vending machines now proposed, and would save the labor of postal clerks who now cancel the stamps and apply the post marks, it .will be clear that the a lication of my invention to this use woul be highly beneficial and economical. Still I do not wish to be confined to this specific use of my check-controlled mechanism, nor to the exact details of construction save as described below.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a coin controlled mechanism, the combination with the coin chute, a fixed upright track beneath the same, a main lever pivoted at its upper end opposite said track and a spring pressing its ower end tower the track so as to make a V-shaped space whose u per end communicates with the lower en of said chute of a plunger mounted in ides and standin normally above said -sha ed space, a andle connected ver connected with said plunger, a. spring holding the plunger normally raised, a bandle, a link connecting it with said power lever, a surrounding casing beyond which 6 said handle pro'ects, and other mechanisms izontrolled by t e movement of said main ever.

In testimony whereof I have he 'ennto set my hand in presence of two subscnbmg w1tnesses.

JACOB W. FENNEL. Witnesses:

PEARL FENNEL, Nn'rrm FENNEL. 

